ICC Volleyball Celebrates Five Cougars
Jeremy Jacob, Harbinger
Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2015
The Illinois Central College Volleyball team honored their five sophomores at the CougarPlex on Friday. Megan Beutke, Anna Crank, Michelle Kelly, Savannah Fillion, and Katie Kupferschmid were honored before and after their final home match of the regular season.
One by one, each player’s name was called. They were then treated to a hug by their head coach, Sue Sinclair, along with a gift bag and flowers. Beutke went first.
Over her time at ICC, Megan Beutke has recorded at least 700 digs each season she’s been here. That makes her the only Division II player to accomplish that feat. She finished this year leading the team in digs.
“Since last year, I’ve had fun,” Beutke said. “It’s been a privilege to be here at a program with a good history and play with this great coaching staff.” Beutke had a team high 27 digs in the match on Friday.
Anna Crank finished second on the team in kills. She was also named an Academic All-American.
“I liked meeting new friends here,” Crank said. “It will be sad to leave each other.” Crank finished the match with two kills.
Savannah Fillion leads the team in block assists. She also is second on the team in blocks.
“I feel like I’ve grown a lot as a player under coach Sinclair,” Fillion said. “It’s felt like being part of a sisterhood.” Fillion had a team high 8 block assists in the match.
Michelle Kelly finished the year with the most assists on the team. She also finished with a 4.0 GPA. Kelly had a team high 19 assists in the match.
Katie Kupferschmid, or “Kup” like how it was written on her gift bag, finished the year with the second most digs on the team.
“I found out that this was a great way to meet a lot of friends,” Kupferschmid said. “These two years have brought great competition and great friends.” She finished the match with 3 digs. Kupferschmid plans on going to nursing school at a to be determined university, but she also plans to continue playing.
As for the rest of the sophomores, they all expressed a desire to continue playing but aren’t sure where yet. No matter where they go or what they accomplish down the road, their head coach is proud of them. Coach Sinclair said a few words at the reception after the match.
“They’ve been a big part of what we’ve done last year as well as this year,” Sinclair said. “We are proud and appreciate what they’ve done in their time here.”
The Cougars move on to postseason play on Wed. Nov. 4 when they host Southwestern Illinois College. If they win that match, they will go to the district finals in Springfield, Ill. on Nov. 7 and play for a spot in the national tournament in Phoenix.
Photo courtesy of Illinois Central College. (L-R) #4 Megan Beutke, #15 Anna Crank, #13 Savannah Fillion, #1 Michelle Kelly, #9 Katie Kupferschmid